[beeping]
[tapping]
[speaker drowned out by static]
- Yes, Mom.
- [Mom On Phone] I was just calling you,
I just need to hear your voice, baby.
I love that shirt!
[chuckles]
- All right, bye, Ma.
[laughs]
[upbeat tempo music]
Hey, GQ Sports, this is Karl-Anthony Towns,
and these are my essentials.
[upbeat tempo music]
Hands down, if you wanna be the best,
you gotta learn from the best.
This is a book that means a lot to me,
it's "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.
I read this all the time.
I read it probably twice a year.
It's about a prophet that came into the city,
all the people know the prophet, he's very famous,
and he comes and he speaks to them
about life from all aspects,
marriage, death, love, money, greed,
and knowledge is power.
You can have all the money in the world,
money grow on trees, that comes and goes,
but knowledge, wisdom, that's forever.
I get this book for everybody.
Anyone who knows me and I care deeply about you,
it's a gift from me.
Very easy to read, it's about, what?
100, 100 pages.
It's easy to read, great book, and it's cheap.
So, I mean [chuckles] it don't get better than that.
I always loved reading.
I mean, this is just one on the books in my library.
I take pride in having a library
that's full of knowledge and full of great books.
Reading all these different things, cultures, ideas,
and kind of taking the best, of what I feel is the best,
from each book and really implementing into myself,
so like a, be in my character, be in my soul, be who I am.
We could talk about essentials here at GQ all day.
We could talk about jewelry,
we could talk about cologne, all this,
but if your mind is effed up from the beginning,
all that don't matter at all.
[heavy bass music]
The laptop, when I'm the road, doing business work,
planning charity events, planning camps,
planning things I can do in the community,
or just for my brand and everything I need is here.
I'm a big religious guy,
so I gotta have "God Is Dope" shout out
to the "God Is Dope" family out there in Atlanta, Georgia.
What I use mostly for is watching movies,
watching things that could better myself.
I watch a lot of YouTube videos
about bettering myself as a person, as a man.
Obviously an essential of mine,
not just for the person on the outside,
but for the person inside.
Xbox, wow!
Okay, okay, now we talkin'.
This is a big essential of mine.
I mean, obviously, I'm on the road, like I said,
I play a game that requires an orange basketball. 29.5,
and it goes in the rim, and it takes me around the world.
And when you're around the world,
it could get a little boring,
so I always got the Xbox with me,
my video game system of choice.
Me and Xbox, we go back,
go back like graham crackers to a preschooler.
I played a lot of 2K, obviously, never myself.
I'll never play as myself.
I'm like one of those guys that's weird
where they play a game and they're in it,
and I cannot play as myself.
I only pick myself
if someone's talking enough trash where I'm like,
I'm just gonna have to whip your ass
the old-fashioned way with myself.
So, I really use the Xbox a lot to talk to my friends,
being in the Xbox Live parties and stuff like that,
it's great to use to really have that quality time
with my friends that I don't get much chance to see.
[tapping]
Essential.
Man, I hit that hard, you heard that?
Jesus, my bad, Xbox.
[slow jam music]
And of course we gotta do the cologne.
Gotta smell good if you wanna be good.
I'm a man that likes to smell good,
and I like to be presentable,
and I like to have the aura around, so,
if I need the aura,
I gotta make sure the cologne matches
the energy I'm trying to put out
and Louis Vuitton gets it done for me.
People always love it,
no matter whatever the side of the world I'm on,
people love this.
So, obviously the price is high,
but you gotta make that investment in yourself.
I want top quality and that's what I got.
I think it's more of like,
it kind of got like some sweet tones to it,
but it's real masculine.
It has a great balance.
Applying the cologne is just as important
as getting the cologne.
So for me, personally, what I do,
I always do two sprays to the body and to the neck area,
you know what I'm tryin' sayin'.
From there, I take one spray to the hair.
I mean, I'm seven-foot tall,
ain't many people who are smelling my hair,
but, if they ever get the chance,
they gonna definitely smell the swag.
So, definitely.
[upbeat tempo music]
My being Dominican, I like shiny things.
Obviously I think an essential for me
has always been jewelry.
I always got some jewelry on me
because you can be wearing a white t-shirt
with basic pants and basic shoes,
but, you put some jewelry on it, man,
it looks like something that came straight from Barneys.
So, it's an essential of mine
because any time I really wanna enhance my outfits,
I wanna enhance my fit, my swag,
you gotta put on some jewelry on.
So, I don't got no tattoos,
so I guess it's kinda like my tattoo,
having some jewelry on.
I remember driving from New Jersey straight to Philly,
I went to Main Street, I went to Shine Jewelers,
shout out to my man, Joe.
Like I said, I'm a very religious guy,
I bought myself a cross, a diamond pendant with chain,
and I still have this to this day.
Oh, this, the ring?
A little Versace ring, just something, something cool.
It took me awhile to get to wearing rings.
It took me a while because I've been a guy
who will not wear any ring
if it wasn't a championship ring of mine.
And, I finally gave into it this summer.
Now I'm wearing rings on the pinky all the time.
So, I mean, I just always, damn,
I got some extra jewelry in my pocket, too.
I'm a watch guy so I always have a watch on me,
just in case, if I need to tell time,
differently than an iPhone.
Day, day two, rose gold Prezi, it's nice.
It's one of my favorite pieces
and I understand the value of watches, so, you know.
- [Man Off Screen] Do you normally
just keep it in your pocket, or?
- I didn't think it matched right now with the fit,
I kinda didn't like wanna put too much on.
I look like a rapper then,
so I was kind of just like,
I have it with me 'cause after this,
I got more things to do.
I got more swag to announce to the world.
So I gotta go somewhere else.
Business never stops.
[gentle music]
The teddy.
One of the biggest essentials of mine.
I mean, if anyone seen my Instagram, it is Mac The Bear.
As anyone who knows, I was real close with Mac Miller.
Mac Miller, Mac, get it?
Got it.
I always told Mac,
I was always saying how,
if I could ever get one thing from him,
I would love the polo teddy bear he had in the music video,
"He Who Ate All the Caviar".
And I was obsessed with that teddy bear
when I was in high school and everything.
I remember asking him like,
I'll pay whatever to get that bear,
that bear is like it.
And, he didn't know where it was.
So, I was like, hey, if you ever find it,
let's talk about it.
Obviously, he tragically passed away.
The next day, I go to a place called Round Two in LA,
a shout out to Round Two,
and I went to the vintage side,
and so behold, just two days ago I was there,
they didn't have one,
[snaps] just came in, Mac the Bear was there sitting there,
called my name, I answered the call, bought him on spot,
and now he's a big time essential of mine.
And anywhere I go, I look at Mac,
and I feel like I got the strength to do anything.
There's little things in life you get
that really reminds you of why life is so special.
Waking up every morning is so special.
You go through bad times, good times,
you always forget that just to even go through those times
is a special moment that you can't take for granted,
and the bear helps me, Mac helps me,
remember all that everyday.
[upbeat tempo music]
Gotta have some Beats by Dre Headphones, man.
I travel a lot, do a lot of business.
Don't want people to hear my conversation,
the leak of the audio and the information I'm pulling out,
so gotta talk on the low.
- [Man Off Screen] Were you on the AirPod train all, or no?
- Nah, I really wasn't.
I was always on the Studio3's, I loved those.
And, man, Beats made these,
and I'm training with these all the time,
I'm always boxing in them,
even if I'm just shooting regularly.
I ain't goin' nowhere without these.
This is an absolute essential because,
you got that close up tool?
If you're gonna have the headphones,
you damn sure need to have the speaker.
So, I got the Beats Pill speaker all the time on me,
when I'm on the road, we on the plane, we makin' jokes,
we wanna have a little party,
a little something to ourselves as a team,
I'm gonna turn the speaker on,
and play some blaps out there.
So, obviously some mainstream people like,
we was playing Big K.R.I.T. before we started this,
J. Cole, Kendrick, Jay-Z,
of course you gotta give it to the goat.
I listen to some underground people, too.
I got Cam Meekins, I got a dude from Bllaine,
Cousin Stizz droppin' his new album this week on the 14th.
The party's gonna be wherever you want it to be,
you don't gotta go to no club to make a party.
I make the party wherever I go,
so, I always gotta keep the Beats Pill with me.
If you're gonna have a Beats by Dre Headphones,
and you're gonna have the speaker,
obviously you need the phones.
One phone, two phone.
If you ask me why I got two,
it's none of your damn business.
I got the Samsung, too, I mean,
I ain't gonna bring you the whole swag.
I can't have all the phones out here,
but, a homeboy always gotta be on the screen at all times.
All times.
Gotta have that Mac Miller on the screen at all times.
That's inspiration.
Got all my music on here.
You can't hide the Beats by Dre's work without the music,
without the playlist, without the sauce.
So, a lot of the times, my phone is,
when you don't have enough time
to have a notepad and pen, pencil, whatever the case may be,
whatever your writing utensil of choice is,
I'm writing my ideas a lot here,
creative things from YouTube skits with my boy,
Chucky Anthony, Instagram posts,
ideas I wanna do with the team,
charity ideas, music, whatever it is,
whatever I'm thinking, I just get to be creative in here
and write what I need to write.
[slow jam music]
Nothing in life gets done without some bread.
So, always gotta keep an essential of mine is the wallet.
I said money don't mean anything, it's true.
Knowledge is power, but,
money helps you get some more knowledge and wisdom, so.
- [Man Off Screen] I'm not trying to judge,
I'm just sayin' that's a big wallet.
- That should tell you something.
[laughs]
I got this from a special person and I appreciate it.
So, it's got some good things in it.
Obviously it's got some money [laughs],
my niece and nephew, shout out to my sister,
two of the most important kids in my life.
- [Man Off Screen] Some pictures or something?
- Yeah, I always got them with me.
So I always love when I'm on the road,
or I've had times I've been at half-times at games
and I'm talking to them on the FaceTime
'cause they're not doing something
they're supposed to be doing,
or they gotta do their homework,
or they gotta eat their vegetables,
and of course they gotta call Uncle Karl
when he's playing on ESPN in Boston at half-time, so.
- [Man Off Screen] When you're going about,
where do you keep your wallet?
Your front pocket, back pocket?
- It changes, the game.
I go by where I'm at.
I can't lie about that.
Certain places, gotta keep that close.
I'm a man that just go by the wave
of the energy in the area.
Talking about energy,
the last essential gotta be good energy.
Nothing in life happens good
when you don't got no good attitude,
or no good energy towards it.
You always gotta put yourself in the right spot,
always gotta put yourself with great people.
When I talk about good energy,
there's one person that definitely comes to mind
when you talk about family and everything,
you gotta talk about one of the closest people to me,
my right hand man, and Chucky Anthony, right here.
First of all, he walk like an OG, Orig Gangster.
That man right here is the big reason
why I'm able to do the things I do,
and the great energy around me that he brings every day,
and my friends and my family and my support.
'Cause if you ever wanna accomplish anything in life,
that energy needs to be around you.
Good attitude, good energy, great things happen.
Bad energy, bad attitude around you,
for sure you're not gonna accomplish anything.
- Thanks, bro.
[laughter]
- And you gotta be positive.
And that comes with good energy.
If you're not positive,
and you don't have a good approach to life every single day,
you might as well just cancel yourself,
'cause it's not good.
You gotta have the good energy.
Nothing good in life happens with a bad attitude
and without good energy.
[heavy bass music]